


Caroline

by FireSoul



Series: Coming Together [9]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-04-07 08:40:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19081474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireSoul/pseuds/FireSoul
Summary: Mick gets a call from Leonard, who has received a surprise visitor from Mick's past. Now Mick has to face the thing he turned his back off thirteen years ago, telling himself he was doing the right thing.His daughter may or may not agree with him.





	1. Chapter 1

Mick looks over his shoulder at the kid strapped into a seat in the back of the jump ship and, for not the first time in the past twelve hours, makes the mental note that he has no idea what he’s supposed to do here.

He’d gotten the call from Snart last night, him and Sara were supposed to be finishing unpacking in the new house so he’d thought maybe he was asking where he packed something away when he and the rest of the Legends helped them move. But, instead, he’d been calling to inform him that they’d gotten some interesting visitors.

Susan Tomas, some woman Mick had a one-night stand with almost fourteen years ago, had shown up at Snart’s front door with his thirteen-year-old daughter Caroline in tow.

He’s known about the kid all these years, her mom visited him in jail to tell him she was pregnant with a girl, and that he didn’t have to be involved if he didn’t want to be. He took her up on that, said he wanted nothing to do with the kid; things would be better that way.

Until now.

_He_ hasn’t changed his mind, for the record. Caroline is much better off without him, but apparently that isn’t his call anymore.

Apparently she’s been having some issue of the fire loving nature, and he knew from the minute he met Susan that she wasn’t totally right in the head, but he never thought her daughter she’s raised for thirteen years showing some signs of her sperm donor’s tendencies would be enough for her to just up and abandon her.

She’d shown up at Snart’s place because she couldn’t track him down, for obvious reasons, and said she’d seen him on the news standing with the heroes after the whole Dominator invasion scare. She said the doctors she brought Caroline to weren’t helping, but if he turned his own life around, then maybe he could.

If he ever sees her, he’s going to strangle her.

It isn’t that he doesn’t _want_ Caroline, that has never been the case, but it took him thirty years and the world strangest circumstances to even get something that comes close to a handle on his issues, how is he supposed to help her?

Keeping trauma to a minimum is out, thanks a lot Susan.

He sighs as he reattaches the jump ship to The Waverider, swiveling his chair around and lifting his restraints.

Caroline takes her cue off him and quietly pushes as her own restraints until they’re up. She hasn’t said a word since he picked her up from Snart’s, if he hadn’t heard her talking to little Rory he might even think she’s mute.

How is he supposed to do this?

“Uh… Look kid,” he says, extremely awkwardly. “The uh… So… I live on this time machine… with a, uh…. A bunch of roommates and they can be a lot. So uh… If you want to, you know, burn anyone, just try not to. Ok?”

He really is terrible at this.

She nods, still mute, though this time she looks flat out sorry, which is stupid because she’s got nothing to be sorry for.

Him, on the other hand, he’s sorry for bringing her into this; be that just his world or the world in general.

* * *

 

Zari sighs in disappointment when she opens the fridge. Yes, they have the replicator, but there are some things that it simply cannot do. Closing the fridge she turns around and folds her arms across her chest, her eyes fixed accusingly on Behrad sitting on a barstool and drinking his morning coffee.

“Did you eat the last of the Halva?” She demands, and sure enough his shoulders tense with being caught and his lips curl into a smirk over the rim of his mug.

“Mom made it for everyone.”

“I barely got a full piece!”

“Hey, you snooze you lose sis.”

She rolls her eyes as he returns to his coffee and she decides she’ll have to settle for a doughnut.

Doesn’t stop her from whacking him lightly in the back of the head as she goes to join Nate at one of the tables.

Over the course of the next fifteen minutes or so the others all start filing into the galley, all except for Mick, and when he does show up he has… a guest, with him.

Everyone in the room freezes, their eyes all set on Mick and the kid trailing slowly behind him. Mick acts like he doesn’t notice, of course, but the kid doesn’t go along with that. She stops practically in the doorway, standing there and looking everywhere; from Mick, to the floor, to the walls, like she’s searching for an escape but is too afraid to move.

“Uh… Mick?” Ray finally asks, “Whose your friend?”

Mick looks back at her over his shoulder, and then turns back to the cabinets.

“Caroline.” He answers, pulling the doughnut box from the shelf. “Her mom’s away for awhile, so I’ve got her.”

“Wait, is she like your daughter or something?” Nate asks, and Zari can tell he wants to ask the question seriously, but the notion is so ridiculous it comes out with a laugh.

But Mick’s face is serious as ever as he makes his way back to where Caroline is still standing and he hands her a doughnut.

“Yeah.” He answers, then looks back at Nate with an expression that just dares any of them to question anything. “Long story.”

With that he leaves the room, and after looking around at them all as if they might hold some kind of answer, Caroline quickly follows his path.

Leaving the galley in a rare silence.


	2. Chapter 2

Caroline is quiet.

After three days, that is the grand conclusion Mick has drawn.

He gives her Pretty’s old room, since Pretty technically lives off the ship now and when he is on the ship he can sleep with Zari.

She stays in there most of the time, but he’s asked Gideon to alert him if she strikes a match or opens a lighter in there or anywhere else, and so far he hasn’t gotten a single alert.

When she does come out of her room she moves around the ship like a ghost, and so far the only thing she’s said to him, or anyone he’s pretty sure, is she asked him where the bathroom was. He told her, and then made sure to tell her not to press the red button.

“Hey.” Haircut’s voice cuts through his thoughts. It’s late, and he’s at his usual table in the galley finishing a beer. When he looks up he sees their resident scientist standing in the doorway in his pajamas, his arms folded and his expression almost angry.

Huh.

“Caroline’s crying.”

He furrows his brow at that; worry briefly washing through his system.

“Is she hurt?” He asks, his hand paused mid air in the action of reaching for his beer.

“Physically?” Haircut asks, his face relaxing and starting to look more like uncomfortable worry. “Probably not. I can hear her through my wall.”

Right, his room is next to hers.

Mick takes a final swig of his beer, most of his worry now at ease.

“You want me to tell her to keep it down?”

Just like that, the anger is back on Haircut’s face.

“What? No I… Mick, she’s your daughter.”

“She’s thirteen.” He reminds his friend, standing up to replace his empty bottle with a fresh one. “She’s not a baby. I can’t just go in there and… pick her up or whatever.”

“Mick that is exactly what you should do!” Haircut practically pleads; following him to the fridge and when he opens it Haircut closes it.

He glares at him, annoyed, and Ray at least has the decency to look afraid of the scowl for a moment, but he holds his hand firm against the metallic door.

“You don’t have to physically pick her up, obviously, but her mom just handed her to the father she’s never known-”

“And for good reason.” Mick cuts him off with a growl, giving the fridge door a yank that has Haircut, smartly, taking his hand back. “That kid’s never known me cause I never cared enough to know her.”  
He turns his attention back to the fridge with that, his every intention set on grabbing another beer, but instead he finds himself yanking his arm away before the door slams it inside.

“That’s not true.” Ray insists, “You care.”

He yanks open the door.

“Do not.”

Ray slams the door again.

“Do too.”

He opens the door, much harsher this time.

“Do not.”

The door slams shut again.

“Do too. Otherwise, why’d you go get her?”

“What was I supposed to do?” He scoffs, “Her mom dropped her with Snart, he and Sara got enough going on right now.”

Haircut rolls his eyes, but at least this time when Mick opens the refrigerator door he doesn’t try closing it on his arm. He gets his beer and opens it, and then closes the door of his own accord.

“What do you care anyway?” He asks, walking back to his table. “She’s not your kid.”

Ray looks aghast at that, as though he can’t believe Mick’s just said it.

“But she’s yours.” He reminds him, following him over to the table. “And that makes her one of ours; a Legend.”  
Mick grimaces, and not at the taste of his beer. The Legends are screw-ups, losers, a group of people destined to be screwed over by history. He doesn’t want that for his kid.

Before he can tell Haircut that much, or to screw off even, the alarms start blaring.

“Gideon?” Ray asks, though Mick knows better than to think he’s forgotten what they’ve been talking about so easily.

“I have detected a temporal anomaly resonating from Zambesi 1944.” The AI announces, and Mick freezes in the midst of getting up.

He exchanges a glance with Haircut; both of them knowing full well this must be big if Amaya couldn’t put it to bed on her own.

“We’re on our way.” He decides, and just like that they’re racing out of the galley and towards the bridge.

However, this is a path that takes them through the barracks, and in the midst of everyone else rushing from their rooms to the bridge is Caroline hovering in her doorway, her eyes red and a beat-up stuffed dog clutched in her arms.

Mick vaguely remembers dropping by Susan’s apartment after he got out of Iron Heights and giving her the dog.

He also remembers being grateful Caroline hadn’t been born yet.

“Come on kid.” He orders, stopping just in front of her. “You’re gonna want to be strapped in for a time jump.”

“A what?” She asks, hurrying after him.

“Time jump.” He repeats, “I told you, this ship is a time machine. Something’s going wrong in 1944, we got to go down to fix it.”

Glancing down at her she seems to understand, even if she also seems to not believe it, but he’ll take that.

“And I don’t want you leaving the ship, you got that? Whatever we’re dealing with down there is bad.”

“Um ok.” She doesn’t sound too sure, but at least she doesn’t argue.

He makes sure she’s strapped into a seat before he heads over to the control one to make the jump.

“Shit.” He curses upon seeing the scene they’re descending on.

They’re right about Zambesi, and through the windows of the dash he can see horse mounted invaders tearing the place to shreds. Huts being ripped apart, people being ripped from each other, and it’s clear that some of them are fighting back but from this distance it’s hard to tell which ones.

He’s about ready to jump out of his seat already, but the sudden sound of somebody vomiting and then sobbing behind him distracts him. He peers over his shoulder and curses again, damn time travel side effects. Caroline’s puked all over herself and is now crying over it, something he doesn’t exactly have time to deal with right now.

The rest of the team is looking at her concernedly, but none of them move to go near her.

“Calm down, you’re fine.” He bellows, probably a little harsher than necessary, as he lifts his restraints and marches over to her, leaning down so he’s at eye-level.

“It’s time travel side effects, you’ll get used to it.”

She’s trying to say something, he’s pretty sure, but all that comes out of her mouth is a series of hiccupped squeaks. He does notice, however, that she is thrashing against her restraints.

“Calm down.” He orders her again, moving for her buckle. You would think a teenager could figure out a damn seatbelt, even if it is designed more like a roller coaster restraint.

The rest of the team is starting to file out, thankfully, he’s pretty sure Zari is leading that command and he’ll thank her for it later. For now he wipes the puke on his hands onto his jacket and grimaces, but he doesn’t have time to change.

Caroline is still crying, a lot. Her face is beat red, her cheeks so wet with tears that some of her hair is actually stuck in it, and her eyes are so squinted he can barely tell if they’re open or not.

And, there is still the yelling of chaos outside the ship.

“Listen kid,” he growls, “I’ll be back soon. The ships cloaked so no one’s gonna find you, just stay on board. You got it?”

She nods and makes a sort of “ah-ha” noise through her tears, which he’ll take for now.

 

* * *

_“I’ll be back soon.”_ He scoffs thinking about the words, it’s a good thing he never told her mom that.

After spending the entire night fighting off the attackers, a portion of Genghis Khan’s army that escaped from Hell after Neron’s big plan, they’re finally sending the last of the remaining invaders through a portal to the Time Bureau.

“Good to see you guys haven’t lost your edge.” A familiar voice remarks from behind him, and for a moment all his troubles cease to exist in his mind, like they normally do when she’s around.

He turns to see Amaya sauntering towards him, a smile on her face that elicits a small one of his own. He’d exchanged a few quick words with her throughout the battle, but he still greets her with a hug and revels in the feeling of her arms wound around his back.

“Sorry to interrupt your quiet life.” He says, but she shrugs, almost wistfully he thinks.

“It’s alright.” She says, her eyes surveying what’s left of her village, and the parts already being rebuilt. “I’ve missed you guys, been kind of lonely here.”

He quirks his brow. “No guy?”

She shakes her head, and he _hopes_ his excitement about that isn’t visible on his face.

“Most of them are already married, turns out I missed out on some things when I left to join the JSA.” She admits, and his excitement dies down a notch, but not too much.

Then, as his brain starts reminding him of the person waiting for him back on the ship probably scared out of her mind, and he thinks about last Christmas when they were in the present and he went to drop off something for her, and Amaya followed him and…

“Well,” he finds himself saying before he can think better of it. “If you’re bored of waiting around for a knight in shinning armor, I got something I could really use your help with.”


	3. Chapter 3

“So her mom just left her?” Amaya asks, appalled. She’s sitting on the bridge with Mick, on the edge of a flight seat while he scrubs the remnants of dried vomit off the one next to her and tells her the story of their most recent crewmember.

“I guess.” Mick shrugs, “She was always a weird one, and I get it that she’s worried but…”

“But you never thought she would do something like this.”

He nods, and while he finishes cleaning the mess she sits there thinking this whole thing through. She remembers last Christmas, finding him on the roof of a random house in Keystone, looking across the street and trough the window at a Christmas Eve party. Caroline had looked so happy playing with the younger kid’s there, and she remembers going off with Mick to find a Christmas present more suited to a teenager than the toy he had. She wishes now they could’ve gone into that party, that she could’ve really seen how things were for Caroline, because if this is where they are…

“I don’t know what to do.” Mick’s low, solemn words bring her from her thoughts.

He leaves the sponge and paper towels in the small bucket he’d brought for water and perches himself in the now cleaned seat, sighing and wringing his hands awkwardly together.

“I don’t know how to talk to her, or how to get her to talk. But I know I’ve got to cause I didn’t have anyone and…”

He can’t seem to say it, and that pulls at her heart in painful reminder of the place he was in when they met, and she doesn’t want to think about him in that place at Caroline’s age.

But he was, and he is thinking about it.

She reaches forward and puts one of her hands gently in his; a small and hopefully comforting smile on her lips when he looks up.

“She won’t be alone.” She promises, “You won’t let her.”

He doesn’t look convinced, at all, but her smile grows anyway and her moves her grip tightens on his hand.

“You were hardly older than she is when you started having problems, what would you have wanted someone to say?”

 

* * *

 

Mick sighs as he stands in front of the closed door. What would he have wanted someone to say? Nothing. He was a stubborn ass kid who didn’t want to talk about anything that had happened, he just wanted to turn back time and take it all back.

And look where that stubbornness got him.

He knocks lightly on the hard metal of the door and soon enough it’s opened and there’s a nervous looking kid staring up at him.

His nervous looking kid.

Great.

“Uh… Mind if I come in?”

She steps back by way of an answer, her hands clasped awkwardly behind her back. He looks around the room; she hasn’t really done anything to personalize it. The little backpack she came with isn’t even unpacked, just sitting open by her bed with clothes falling out. He’d told her she could do whatever she wants with the place, but maybe he’s going to have to help her with that.

“Um… How ya feeling?” He decides to ask, maybe start them off semi-easy.

“Better.” She murmurs, “Sorry about throwing up.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He dismisses, “Side effect of time travel, it’ll stop bothering you after awhile.”

She nods, and they’re back to an awkward silence. He hits his hand to his fist once, thinking, wondering if maybe he should leave now, but if he does Amaya will probably just drag him right back.

“Look ki- uh, Caroline.” He says, and shit, has he really not been saying her name? Crap, he’s a real father of the year. “Uh, look. We don’t have to talk about your mom or the fire or any of that if you don’t want to. But... I was about your age when… well, when things got out of hand and I wouldn’t talk to anyone, and maybe if I had it wouldn’t have taken me so long to get my life together.”

Maybe he would’ve been there for her, and maybe she wouldn’t be stuck here.

She nods, and she tucks some of her long hair behind her ear, one of the little pieces that isn’t in her ponytail anyway.

“I’m ok.” She says, very unconvincingly, so this time he sighs and steps deeper into her room, and when she backs up he goes and sinks down onto the edge of her bed.

“Your not kid.” He tells her, in no uncertain terms. “According to your mom you’ve been having problems with fire-”

“I don’t!” She snaps, defensive, and it is by far the loudest Mick has ever heard her, so of course he shuts up.

But she stops, and takes a breath with tears in her eyes. For moment she just stands there, like she doesn’t know what to do with herself.

“I don’t.” She eventually repeats. “I don’t have any problem with fire or with burning things. I don’t want to burn people or anything!”

“No one wants to.” He says evenly, “No one wakes up one morning and says they want to watch the world burn, not right away.” He mumbles that part like an afterthought, then shakes himself out of it and looks her in the eye. “But it plays in your head, doesn’t it? You see it happening in your mind, over and over again until you give in.”

She’s shaking her head the whole time he’s talking, growing more frantic with every word he says.

“No.” She says under him at one point. “No, it doesn’t!”

“Kid-” He huffs and gets up.

“No!” She shouts, “No, it doesn’t!”

He doesn’t get the chance to even try and calm her down, because she turns tail and runs out of the room so fast Scarlet would be jealous.

 

* * *

 

“A shape shifter?” Amaya asks; something telling her this is only the tip of the iceberg. She’s just met Charlie, which was awkward for all involved, so now she and Zari are strolling around the ship and getting her caught up on what she’s missed.

“Yeah.” Zari answers, “Long story short she took your form to guilt trip us and then John stripped her of her powers.”

“John?” She asks and Zari snickers.

“Yeah you’ve missed a lot.”

“Clearly.” She chuckles, but she can’t ask for anything further in an explanation because right at that moment a short figure comes skidding around the corner and crashes into them.

“Sorry!” The figure rushes, jumping back and gawking up at them with red, fearful eyes.

“Caroline, what’s wrong?” Zari asks and the girl heaves a breath, her eyes now set on Amaya.

“Oh yeah,” Zari says, almost dismissively. “This isn’t Charlie, this is Amaya, I’ll explain later. Now, where is the fire?”

Amaya doesn’t miss the way Caroline’s breath hitches even more, something that soon turns into a sob, and she tries to run through them but Amaya blocks her with her hands coming onto her shoulders and pushes her back.

She grunts as she struggles to keep the girl from running while also bending down to eye level with her. She’s small, hasn’t hit her growth spurt yet, but even through the tears Amaya can see she looks so much like Mick.

“Caroline.” She says, trying to sound firm. “Caroline what happened? Where’s Mick?”

Bad question.

Instead of answering Caroline simply collapses into a heap of tears and after exchanging one look of “what do we do?” with Zari, Amaya walks both herself and the obviously upset teenager over to the wall, sinking them both down beside it while Zari excuses herself.

“Shh… It’s alright.” She whispers, running a comforting hand along the younger girl’s back. “It’s alright.

Caroline shakes her head, and while still sobbing she straightens up and through her tears looks Amaya in the eye.

“I’m not a bad person.” She sobs, “I’m not.”

Amaya’s eyes widen, and without a second thought she gathers the trembling girl into her arms.

She just holds her there, eyes still wide as she tries to figure out how on Earth they got here.

“Shh… Hey it’s alright. It’s alright. Who said you’re a bad person?”

Whoever said it, they are going to be getting one hell of an earful. Still, she can’t imagine anyone on the team telling a teenager she’s a bad person, even the new people whom she doesn’t know. It has to be a miss understanding.

Caroline’s sobs are by now turning to hiccups, and over her trembling shoulder Amaya sees Mick round the corner, and then gives him a questioning look of _what the hell did you do?_ And Mick, of course, carefully steps back the way he came.

She rolls her eyes, and makes a mental note to give him an earful later.

For now, she’s a little busy soothing his daughter.

“I… I… I…” She chokes and Amaya pushes her back a little, gently running one hand along her hair and tucking it out of the way, and when her actions aren’t fought against she uses her thumb to wipe away some of the girl’s tears.

“It’s alright,” she whispers softly, “Take your time.”

Caroline sniffles, but thankfully obeys and takes a few minutes to at least try and calm herself down before speaking again.

“I…. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I don’t. I didn’t… I didn’t know that was what he was like. Mom always saidhelikedfiresoIlookedatitwhenIwascaredandIwantedhimbutIdidn’tknoooowww…”

Her voice gives off into a high squeak and Amaya finds her chest aching with realization as she deciphers the words and finds Caroline crashing back into her and holding tighter.

“Oh…” She says aloud, the reality of all this crashing over her. She continues to simply hold Caroline while she breaks down on her shoulder.

“It’s ok,” she murmurs, “It’s ok, your dad isn’t like that anymore. I promise.”

It doesn’t seem to help, not much anyway, and that makes her heart ache.

“Listen to me.” She firmly instructs, pushing Caroline back just enough so that she can look her in the eye. “You are not a bad person, and neither is your father, ok? In fact, he is one of the greatest people I have ever met. He’s selfless, and brave, and loyal to a fault. He will do _anything_ to protect the people he cares about. It just so happens that he was in some rough circumstances for awhile, without anybody to help him.”

Caroline sniffles, and Amaya bites sadly at her lip. She wonders, idly, if this is anything like what Mick was like at her age. Caroline may not have the same problems he did, but the fear and the loneliness; that’s a universal language.

 

* * *

 

Mick is sitting in his room, trying to write but pretty much just staring at a blank page, when the door opens and he snaps his attention to an exhausted looking Amaya.

“She’s in her room.”

Mick sighs in relief, though it isn’t like he had expected to hear she stole the jump ship, although she is his kid.

“And I’ve got good news…” Amaya drawls on, her face looking like it is anything but good news. “And bad news.”

He doesn’t ask, he wants to, but something in her face is keeping him quiet.

“The good news is, I don’t think she has pyromania.”

This time he holds his breath. He wasn’t expecting to hear that, and while it is by far the best news he could receive, the fact that a cloud of bad news is still hanging over this conversation is keeping him anxious.

That feeling isn’t helped any by Amaya visibly deflating and walking slowly over to sit on the edge of his desk.

She takes her time. She settles herself, her eyes avoiding him for a long while and then remaining quiet even longer. It’s killing him. What news does she have that’s so bad that it overshadows the fantastic news that his kid was spared the misfortune of ending up like him?

“I don’t know what her mother told her.” She finally starts, “Or what’s been going on with her life. But she’s a kid, and apparently whenever she’s been scared or upset or whatever, her way of coping with it has been to try and feel close to her father.”

Oh.

“I don’t know what she’s done in the past,” she continues, almost sorrowful. “But at some point she found out you liked fire, so she was looking at it, but-”

“But she didn’t get it.”

“Yeah.”

They’re quiet, the story sinking in and he wants to burry his head in his hands. He did this. He stayed out of her life and he still screwed her up. He should’ve told Susan to tell her what a monster he is, well, used to be. He should’ve had her tell her exactly where he was most of her life, prison. He should’ve made sure she knew he isn’t anyone worth missing.

He looks up when he feels Amaya nudging his leg with her foot.

“You ok?”

No, he is not. He is, in fact, very, very far from ok.

“You should go talk to her.”

He nods, he knows he should, the problem is he has no idea what to say.

He still hasn’t figured it out by the time he’s knocking on her door.

She lets him in, to his surprise, and he stands awkwardly in the doorway before finally asking if he can come in.

He’s still surprised when she takes a step back and lets him.

He meanders awkwardly into the room, his hands folded in front of him and his mind painfully blank.

“So… Your a… Your mom had your problems wrong, didn’t she?”

She nods; her eyes still red.

“I’m sorry kid.” He sighs, scratching uncomfortably at the back of his neck. “Look, I just want you to know the things I asked you about, I know you don’t feel that stuff, and I’m glad you don’t. But if you did, I want you to know it happens.”

She’s still looking at him with attentive, red rimmed eyes, and he’s just surprised she hasn’t kicked him out right now.

“Worlds a scary place, your age is when you start figuring that out, and sometimes your mind don’t know how to make sense of it. So, if you ever do start thinking like that, just keep in mind that it’ll pass. Maybe not in a day, maybe not even in a year, and maybe you’ll need help getting over it. But it’ll pass, it ain’t who you are.”

She almost looks like she wants to say something, and he almost thinks she might. He wonders if she’ll listen at all, or if she’s going to dismiss everything he’s just said. He wouldn’t blame her, he’s never done anything for her other than accuse her of wanting to hurt people.

Yeah, real father of the year he is.  
“Anyway,” he says, “If you want to come to the bridge and strap in I’ll take ya home, explain the whole thing to your mom and that your fine.”

She’s quiet, so he turns to go, assuming she’ll follow him, even if she stays a few feet behind.

“No.”

He stops in the doorway and turns back. She’s still rooted in her spot, almost shaking but there’s a rising confidence in her eyes he hasn’t seen yet.

“I… I don’t want to go home.”

“What?” He asks, his brow furrowed and he’s pretty sure the little feeling lighting up in his chest his hope.

“I don’t want go home.” She says more firmly, “Mom doesn’t want me anymore.”

He quashes down that hope, leaning himself against the doorway what he hopes is casual.

“She wants you kid,” He promises her, “She only sent ya to me cause she’s worried about ya.”

That shuts her up, and kills what’s left of the light of hope in his chest, but it’s better this way.

“Pack up your stuff.” He orders her; it’ll take her a few minutes to get her clothes from the last few days stuffed back into that backpack.

It’ll give him a few minutes to accept that she’s leaving.

It’s better this way, it always was.

* * *

 

Once they land he walks her to the house. He can tell by the scrunched look on her face every time they silently make a turn that she’s wondering just _how_ he knows where to go, but she doesn’t ask.

The house looks different during the day and without a foot of snow in the front yard. He’s never made it as far as the front door, he hadn’t planned on making it that far today, but Caroline keeps herself stubbornly at his side and he ends up rolling his eyes and knocking.

When her mom answers, she doesn’t look too happy.

“What happened?” She asks, noticeably staying firm in the middle of the doorway with her eyes on him rather than their daughter.

He shrugs the backpack off his shoulder anyway and passes it back to Caroline.

“She’s fine.”

“You expect me to believe you cured her in less than a week?”

Her doubtful gaze has him gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, but he keeps his cool, as best he can anyway.

“Nothing to cure.” He just barely keeps from barking. “It was a misunderstanding, she’s fine.”

Finally Susan looks down at Caroline, but the look in her eyes is anything but understanding, it isn’t even an attempt. It’s fear, and doubt, and about a million little expressions Mick wonders if his own mother ever looked at him with.

“She’s lying to you.” It isn’t a question; it’s a decision, a fact in her mind. “I’ve had her evaluated by a pediatrician and two child psychologists, and they all agree she has acute pyromania.”

“Your doctors are wrong.” He growls, “She’s fine.”

She still doesn’t believe him, he can see the gears turning in her head with her calculating her next move, if he learned one thing after all those years with Snart it’s how to spot someone planning to make things go from bad to worse.

 

* * *

 

Amaya is still on the ship, on the bridge to be exact, when Mick finally returns. She rises to her feet instantly, taking in his rather disturbed expression.

“How’d it go?” She asks softly, and God, she doesn’t think she has ever seen Mick looking like he wants to cry, not even after Vietnam, but this is pretty damn close.

“She’s uh, she’s gonna stay awhile.” He says, “Her mom wouldn’t believe she was fine, so we’re gonna give her some time. Give ‘em both some time I guess.”

Amaya hopes her anger at the news doesn’t show on her face as she crosses over to him. Not anger towards him or Caroline’s staying specifically, but how could a mother do this? Just cast aside her child and refuse to hear reason?

“What about you?” He asks, getting her mind momentarily off that track. “Am I bringing you home next?”

She shakes her head, even though she probably shouldn’t be running away _again,_ but she just can’t stand to be in Zambesi right now.

“I thought I might stay awhile too. If that’s alright?”

“Always.” He promises her with a relieved laugh and she smiles.

It feels good to be home.

 


End file.
